8 Things Arizonans Won’t Do in August Heat, No Matter What

Would you let your dog trot barefoot across a Phoenix parking lot in August?

Not a single Arizonan would.

Asphalt across the Valley can hit 180 degrees on a summer afternoon, hot enough to blister skin in seconds.

These are the things Arizonans refuse to do once August heat sets in, no matter what.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Arizona’s landlord-tenant rules and repair timelines are subject to change, so confirm your rights with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

1. Leaving Kids or Pets in Cars

Arizonans know not to leave a kid or a pet in a parked car in August, not even for a two-minute stop at the pharmacy.

A child’s body heats up three to five times faster than an adult’s, and rolling the windows down or parking in the shade does little to change that, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

A quick errand doesn’t change those numbers.

More than 1,000 kids have died of vehicle heatstroke since 1998, according to NHTSA.

It’s not worth the risk.

2. Grabbing Metal Without Checking First

Arizonans check before they grab anything metal in August because a playground slide or a seatbelt buckle left in the sun can beat a stovetop.

An unshaded playground slide can climb past 160 degrees in 100-degree weather, Arizona State University (ASU) researchers found.

An uncovered rubber play surface can climb even higher, up to 188 degrees, hot enough to blister skin in seconds, the same ASU research found.

Barely enough time to flinch.

The five-second rule locals use isn’t about food dropped on the counter.

It’s a hand pressed flat on a slide or a buckle before a kid’s skin ever touches it.

3. Walking Dogs on Hot Asphalt

Arizonans time a dog’s walk around the pavement, not just the temperature.

Valley asphalt can reach 180 degrees on a summer afternoon, “a little below boiling,” says Dr. Kevin Foster, director of burn services at the Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Health.

It takes only a few seconds of contact to cause a third-degree burn, according to Dr. Frank LoVecchio, an emergency room doctor at Valleywise Health Medical Center.

Every bed in Foster’s 45-bed burn unit filled up during the brutal heat wave of July 2023, and a third of those patients had been burned by the pavement.

So the walk happens at sunrise or after dark, on grass whenever the route allows it.

Noon is off the table.

4. Hiking Past a Trail Closure

Arizonans turn back at a trail closure sign, even with the parking lot still full and the summit still in sight.

Phoenix closes the busiest routes up Camelback Mountain, Piestewa Peak, and South Mountain from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on any day the National Weather Service issues an Excessive Heat Warning.

Echo Canyon, the Cholla Trail, the Piestewa Peak summit route, and several South Mountain trails all fall under that closure.

Rangers can cite a hiker who ignores the signs, though Phoenix officials admit they don’t always enforce it.

That isn’t why locals turn around.

Phoenix Fire has answered close to 80 mountain rescues so far this year, a jump crews link directly to hikers who push past a closed trail.

Locals know who answers that call.

Not worth the search party.

So the summit waits until 5 p.m., or the hike moves to a shaded, lower trail instead.

5. Driving Into a Dust Storm

Arizonans pull off the road the moment a wall of dust swallows the horizon.

Those walls build because the same summer heat that bakes the Valley by day fuels monsoon thunderstorms by evening.

When one of those storms collapses, the downdraft can shove a mile-high wall of dust across the desert in minutes, according to Arizona State University researchers.

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) built its Pull Aside, Stay Alive campaign around exactly that instinct.

Drivers get off the pavement and cut their headlights.

Then they take their foot off the brake so nobody behind them mistakes them for a car still moving.

Researchers at Phoenix hospitals have studied crash trauma tied to haboobs for years, and they keep finding the same answer: Pull over and wait.

Simple as that.

6. Leaving on an Empty Tank

Arizonans top off the tank before any drive that leaves city limits, monsoon season or not.

Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) crews rescued more than 75,000 stranded drivers in one tracked year, and the agency's own advice is to keep more than a quarter tank of gas in the car at all times.

A breakdown on a two-lane highway outside Tucson at 2 p.m. in August isn't an inconvenience.

It's an emergency with a clock running.

Every time.

So Arizonans fill the tank, check the tires, and pack a case of water in the trunk before anyone leaves pavement behind.

7. Waiting Out a Broken Air Conditioner

Arizonans don't wait around on a broken air conditioner, and Arizona law backs that instinct.

State statute treats air conditioning as an essential service, not an amenity a landlord can get to whenever.

A tenant who reports a health-and-safety risk in writing has five days to see it fixed.

Five days, not five weeks.

Landlords who drag their feet can end up covering a tenant's damages, including medical bills or paid rent.

8. Assuming an Elderly Neighbor Is Fine

Arizonans never assume the older neighbor down the street is fine once an Excessive Heat Warning goes up, even if they've never said more than hello.

Maricopa County recorded 430 heat-related deaths in 2025, down from 608 the year before but still a heavy toll.

Older adults have more trouble regulating their body heat, which is part of why county officials keep pushing residents to check on their neighbors.

A five-minute knock costs nothing.